COMMENTARY: Holiday' trees offend religious and secular

4:59 PM,
Dec. 23, 2013

Written by

Eliyahu Federman

In a Yuletide shift, Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee finally agreed to call a 17-foot statehouse spruce a Christmas tree, admitting that his past practice of calling it a "holiday tree" generated too much anger.

No kidding. Naming a Christmas tree a holiday tree should be offensive to both the religious and secularist or atheist. It is deceptive.

While using green trees during the winter solstice celebration predates Christianity, by the 16th century and possibly even the 15th century the custom of the Christmas tree developed as "devout Christians (bringing) decorated trees into their ...